TRAFFIC chaos and jams clogged up south Bucks as a diesel spillage closed the M25's junction with the M40.

The spill occurred following a collision between a Vauxhall Corsa and an HGV at around 3.20am on Tuesday when the HGVs fuel tanks were ruptured, spilling 150 gallons of diesel across all three lanes of the carriageway. Neither driver was injured in the collision.

The road surface on this stretch of the M25 is porous and the diesel seeped into the surface causing it to lift and become unsafe to drive on.

For this reason, the northbound carriageway was closed all day Tuesday.

Many drivers were stuck in huge tailbacks throughout Bucks.

An Amersham resident who contacted the Star said the area was so grid-locked she wasn't able to get out of her road in the centre of the Old Town.

She said: "You really need ice-cream sellers and water vendors out there. You just cannot move. It is stationary."

The Star's business reporter Judy Warschauer said it took her 40 minutes to get to Gerrards Cross when it normally takes 15.

She said: "Coming into Old Beaconsfield it was chock-a-block. It was absolutely solid and I had an appointment at 11 o'clock. The lorries were just piled up. It was dreadful."